I had coffee recently with an executive in a family business. He isn’t part of the family. He’s talented, growth-oriented and extremely frustrated. The owner is the CEO and a wonderful guy. He has a language problem, however, that causes his business (and its people) to suffer greatly. He confused two words — value and […]
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.” —Heraclitus The balance between experience and open-mindedness toward new ideas is interesting. “Been there done that.” “I’ve seen this show before.” “This ain’t my first rodeo.” “If I had a nickel for every time … .” Those are voices […]
“God is great. Beer is good. People are crazy.” —Billy Currington, country singer Not my favorite country song, but I like the line. I don’t feel qualified to address the “God” assertion, but I’ve had my share of beer (and brew my own) and have worked with some crazy people. Been one myself a few […]
One of my favorite distinctions between management and leadership is that management tames complexity and leadership drives change. They don’t have to be separate people and in fact the most successful CEOs are competent in both. Unfortunately, some in leadership roles believe that change management is a project with a start and end date rather […]
I’m waiting for an appointment and watching a group of children learning to play American football. The coaches are good and constantly talking. The kids look to be around 5th grade and don’t know the rules well. There’s a lot of chaos; both skill and structure (rules) are lacking at this young age. It takes […]
I’m usually not interested in preseason football. It’s like watching all-star wresting — lots of meaningless activity. However, I viewed the first quarter of a few games to prime the pump for the coming season. One disheartening thing I saw was a talented rookie wide receiver blow his knee out, most likely ending his season […]
On a recent return flight to Denver, we encountered a typical summer afternoon of building cumulous clouds. The seat belt sign came on early. Our pilot must’ve asked for slight deviations from air traffic control, because he was skirting around the larger cauliflower-shaped clouds — the ones that create the most turbulence. I used to […]
“New Yorker cartoon: Two Zen monks in robes and shaved heads, one young, one old, sitting side by side cross-legged on the floor. The younger one is looking somewhat quizzically at the older one, who is turned toward him and saying: “Nothing happens next. This is it.”” —From “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness […]
I am fortunate to live in an area that has lots of raptors—hawks and eagles. As I drove home recently, I witnessed some skillful aerial combat—a small bird, sparrow-sized, giving a large hawk the fight of his life. The smaller bird was tenacious, attacking the hawk from above and behind, probably pushing it away from […]
Have you recently spent an hour or two at a boring cocktail party, a bad movie or (gasp!) the 15th version of your kid’s Nutcracker ballet performance? If so, I bet you spent some time thinking about all the other fun places you’d rather be. Was work one of them? If you’re an executive, you’re […]